Computer and traditional tools in design activity: Experimental study on students of architecture

Abstract

The worldwide emergence of computer tools in the field of architecture has evolved along with the great advance in digital technologies, extending to the whole process of the project. A fact that we cannot generalize in Algeria: students and teachers hesitate to adopt these tools in architectural projects. Some prefer "traditional tools" (paper/pencil) especially in the early stages of design. This paper presents the results of an experimental study aiming to know how and when the student of architecture uses computer tools during the design of his projects and how the used tools affect the method and the quality of design. The study is based on an exercise with a group of volunteer students from the Master of Architecture. At the end of the exercise, they filled-in a questionnaire to learn their opinions and choices. The design outcomes were collected at the end of the experiment (texts, papers and digital files), and they were presented in a unified way and printed out before being distributed to the jury composed of teachers from the same department. During the experiment, observations were collected and annotated using an observation matrix. The design activity of each student was segmented and graphically presented via timelines.